January 11, 2005

I'm currently in India, one of the nations worst hit by the Indian Ocean tsunami. Thankfully, my relatives are fine (they all live in inland states), but seeing detailed coverage of the disaster on the national news really brings home the extent of the devastation. Newspapers are filled with stories of local fundraising efforts (appeals for money, benefit concerts, car washes for charity, you name it). But donations from individuals in the global North typically go further than similar donations raised in nations like India -- which is why it's so important for folks around the world to give what they can.

Like many others, BookFinder.com and its employees have been giving to organizations doing relief work. We sent money to UNICEF in December, and to Asha for Education this week.

Asha for Education is a nonprofit that raises money to offer targeted micro-grants to educational projects in underserved parts of India. Next week, I'll be visiting one of the projects they fund, an alternative school for girls in a Muslim slum area in Bombay. Several of the projects that Asha supports were in tsunami-affected areas; they're also doing relief work in other affected communities.

I sound like I'm shilling for Asha, but it ultimately doesn't matter who you support -- there are lots of great organizations out there doing relief work in the affected regions (as well as in other parts of the world), and your tax-deductible donations to any of them will be welcomed.

number of books read in 2004: 80
number of books read in 2003: 100
number of books read in 2002: 103
number of books read in 2001: 124
average read per month: 6.7
average read per week: 1.53
number read in worst month: 3 (April & August)
number read in best month: 14 (December)
percentage by male authors: 76%
percentage by female authors: 24%
fiction as percentage of total: 50%
non-fiction as percentage of total: 50%
percentage of total disliked: 6%
percentage of total ambivalent or sorta-liked: 48%
percentage of total strongly liked: 46%